this is bbc news, i'm simon mccoy, the headlines at 3pm. speaking in washington, the brexit secretary david davis says he is a determined optimist about britain's withdrawal of the eu i believe that a good deal is in the interests of both the united kingdom and the european union, and of the entire global community. gas suspends nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre near gatwick airport — after a bbc panorama investigation shows officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there. nearly half of young, low—paid parents are struggling to juggle childcare with work and two in five are penalised for asking for flexitime, according to a new survey. also in the next hour. more than 1200 people dead and 41 million affected by monsoon rains. the impact of floods in south asia becomes clearer — an estimated 16 million have been forced from their homes in india, nepal and bangladesh — with a third of bangladesh still under water. president trump is to ask congress for £45 billion to help people affected by storm harvey in texas.

everton striker wayne rooney is arrested on suspicion of drink—driving, the bbc understands. he was stopped by police in cheshire in the early hours of this morning. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. in the last hour, brexit secretary david davis has said that he is a"determined optimist" about britain's withdrawal from the eu. his comments follows a warning from the international trade secretary liam fox that brussels should not be allowed to "blackmail" the uk into accepting a brexit divorce bill. the eu insists issues arising from the uk's withdrawal must be dealt with before any talks can begin about future trade relations. in his speech to the us chamber of commerce david davis addressed the issue of the implications of trade imbalance throughout the world.

the trick in this is to remember the end of it. one, we want an outcome thatis end of it. one, we want an outcome that is in everybody‘s interest. this is not a zero—sum game. we all know, all of you know, those of you who negotiate as most of you will, the world outside things negotiation is all about machismo. more it's about finding solutions in everybody‘s interest. secondly, when we leave we want to continue to be allies. we are the biggest military power in europe, the biggest in terms of spending, the biggest in terms of spending, the biggest in terms of spending on national development. we are a huge influence, we are very important in counterterrorism, we're the biggest intelligence power in europe, we're a science superpower like you. so there were lots of things we want to stay friends on. that's the first thing we can guarantee. the second question. i'm not going to do the negotiation from the lectern and you

are far too smart to expect me to do so are far too smart to expect me to do so but what has been going on, again, for the audience, what's been going on is we've got to the point today where there has been some pressure in the last couple of days over the question of whether we pay a divorce bill, separation bill, and if so what it is. there have been stories flying around, some emanating from paris, that one way of doing this is to pay for the transition period and so on. well i can't comment because we haven't started that negotiation. to our correspondent in westminster. part of his role in washington was to calm the nerves of us business. difficult when he can't tell them anything and answer any of their questions. in his speech there was an attempt to shift focus onto the post brexit period rather than talk about how negotiations were going. certainly in his speech he talked about his vision for britain after brexit and talked about being a global player, close cooperation

between us and uk on free trade, urging taxis to do more to liberalise trade rather than close ra nks liberalise trade rather than close ranks and take on protectionist measures. he talked about the uk being a global standard setter, playing a key role in opening up the services industry. obviously the focus came back, certainly in the questions, as to how those brexit negotiations were going. as you heard, he was trying to calm nerves, to say, be steady, be measured. he talked about the comments liam fox made, saying the eu was trying to blackmail britain somehow, asking us to pay a divorce bill first, getting us to pay a divorce bill first, getting us to commit to paying a certain amount before talks can even move on to the future relationship. he said, look, this is a ripple in the water, there are likely to be further ripples down the road. certainly david davis's position is that we

are starting from a position of closeness with the eu, committee and everyone's interest, the eu, the uk, and the global community, for a good deal to be struck, so he's optimistic, saying his confident we can succeed. with me is james mcgrory, executive director of open britain, the campaign group pushing for a close relationship with the eu. not effectively remaining as we are, but staying in the single market? staying in the single market and customs union, which we know is the best economic model for our country, the government voluntarily decided to go for the second best economic model which will push up prices, reduce investment and affect consumers badly, by saying they will pull out of the single market and customs union. the vote was the leave the european union, that is how the government is saying this is the way it's going to happen at the moment. i'm wondering how words like blackmail, when the fox says in

their negotiations the uk is being blackmailed how helpful it is.” think it's spectacularly unhelpful to be honest, whatever your view on brexit to the eu will continue to be oui’ brexit to the eu will continue to be our largest trading partner for many decades to come. i think bandying around words like blackmail is deeply unhelpful. liam fox would be better served brushing up on his copy and paste skills if he's going to cut and paste all these new trade deals by march 200019. to cut and paste all these new trade deals by march 2000 19. you presumably agree with the labour model of how they would progress, having changed their minds, but they are talking about transition rather than the whole deal. labour have said, a welcome move, they would seek to be in the customs union and single market for a transitional period, we don't know whether two, three, four years. i think we should go further, i think the best economic thing the country can do is stay in the single market and customs union for the long—term. there is a very good report out

today by the all—party parliamentary group, chaired by anna soubry the conservative, and chuka umunna the labourmp, making the conservative, and chuka umunna the labour mp, making the case for continued customs union membership to avoid chaos in the economy and at the borders. the eu wants us to discuss the divorce settlement first, we're not even near trade negotiations as far as we can see from the mood music. it's frustrating, is it? david davis is probably the only optimistic person out there, i don't think you'll find anybody else who thought the talks went well, they don't seem to have made much progress at all. there are huge figures being bandied about in the divorce bill. everybody, even borisjohnson crop will accept, who was telling the eu to go and whistle a few months ago, the accept we have to pay our legal responsibilities. it's a lot of money, unquestionable, it's understandable the government wa nts it's understandable the government wants the right deal for the taxpayers. it's a fairly small drop in the ocean compared to the of billions of pounds of trade we do

with eu every year. that we should be getting on to talk about in short order. should we come up with the money because in the long—running benefit us? we should be prepared to talk about it, it clearly going to bea talk about it, it clearly going to be a stumbling block. not long ago david davis said this would be the i’ow david davis said this would be the row of the summer. come thejune negotiations the british government rightly associated this would be the structure of the talks. we accepted that injune, i can't see why we changed tune in august, will have to deal with the divorce bill, the rights of eu citizens in the uk and brits living on the continent. and the irish border. once we've made sufficient progress i don't think everything has to be tied down, you can move on to the most important issue, the trading arrangement with eu. the point the eu is making is there hasn't been any progress made on any of those three issues. not substantial enough anyway. david davis doesn't want to let the cat

out of the bag in terms of what his negotiating policy is. europe is being tough, we knew they would be, we have to be tough back, don't we? like any negotiation in business, when you negotiate with bosses about your salary, there is posturing on both sides but sooner or later you have to come to an agreement and that will require condom eyes on both sides. there is an unwillingness from the government and ministers to be real with people about some of the compromises they are the government will have to negotiate on our behalf. until they do that i don't see progress being made. listening to what's been going on the last few days, do you have in the back of your mind a concern we might get to the cut—off date with nothing negotiated? hugely, it would be absolute disaster for the economy and country, a no deal brexit scenario would be catastrophic, i can't underline that enough. how would it manifest? if you can't agree something with the other side,

as the phrase goes, the clock is ticking, we leave in march 2019, thatis ticking, we leave in march 2019, that is why some sort of transitional arrangement is pivotal because i find it fantastical the idea we will have everything sorted out by march 2019, we can't make progress on three single issues when there are hundreds to get through. it's about the government being open and realistic with people about what they can achieve and where the compromise will have to be. good of you to come in, thank you. the private security company, gas, has suspended nine employees following claims of abuse and assaults on detainees at an immigration centre. an undercover investigation by the bbc‘s panorama programme appears to show staff mocking, abusing and threatening violence against detainees at brook house, near gatwick airport. gas says there is ‘no place for the type of conduct described in the allegations', and that it has immediately begun an investigation. our social affairs correspondent alison holt has the details. just metres from the runway at gatwick airport is brook house,

an immigration removal centre run by the global security firm gas. here, foreign national prisoners facing deportation at the end of their sentence are detained alongside asylum seekers, illegal migrants and those who have overstayed their visas. a secret world of drugs, violence and abuse... undercover filming as part of a panorama investigation to be broadcast this monday alleges that some staff at brook house, mock, abuse and even assault detainees. it exposes a place awash with drugs, with self—harm commonplace amongst the men held there. the company says it's waiting to see the footage but has suspended nine staff and alerted the police. my initial reaction is absolutely disgusted by the alleged behaviour. it's totally unacceptable to me, to the organisation, to anyone else who would work in this kind of vocation. it is the home office that decides who is detained

at centres like brook house, whilst their immigration case is decided. it says in a statement: we condemn any action that is put the safety or dignity of immigration removal centre detainees at risk. it also says that gas needs to ensure there is a thorough investigation into the allegations at the centre and that it expects appropriate action. alison told us that it is notjust the immediate issues raised by her investigation which need addressing. there are wider, broader issues about immigration detention, for instance, in brookhouse as with other detention centres, they have a mix of ex—offenders being deported from the country along with asylum seekers. others who may not have had experience of a prison type environment before. the description of life inside brookhouse is of it being a toxic mix, so there are

questions around that. places like this were built to house people for 72 hours before they were removed from the country. across the board we see the length of stay in such places increasing. brooke house has aa8 places increasing. brooke house has a a8 days as an average. some people have been there more than two years, that in itself raises issues about the efficiency of the system and the impact it has on vulnerable individuals. you can see the panorama documentary on monday evening at 9pm on bbc one. nearly half of young, low paid parents are struggling to juggle childcare with work, according to a survey for the tuc. researchers found that irregular hours were to blame, with many working parents feeling at the mercy of employers. our business correspondent emma simpson reports. hi, boys! hi! it's the end of the day. kiera'sjust got back from work, and all her kids are finally home, too. show me!

ah, what does it do?! a precious few minutes before they are off to bed. kiera is self—employed and works in it. she and her partner, from hertfordshire, earn between them less than £28,000 per year. juggling childcare and work is a daily battle. i can be at home with my children, enjoying my life with them. when instead, i'm planning it around trains, hoping and praying that my train isn't late or delayed or cancelled. and then you look at your bank balance and you think, what did i do today? what have i really earned? kiera's experience isn't unique, judging by today's survey, conducted on behalf of the tuc. nearly half of low—paid young parents are struggling to manage work and childcare. a2% felt penalised at work when they asked for flexibility. some were given fewer hours, or even lost theirjobs as a result. nearly a third had resorted to taking annual leave

to cover their child being sick. achieving a good work—life balance can be hard for any parent. this survey highlights just how difficult it is for families on lower incomes, many of whom don't even know what their parental rights are. so, could and should employers do more? employers can certainly do more to communicate the rights that people do have. i think government also has a role to play, to do more in that area as well. i think the broad issue around flexibility, in that quite a lot of flexibility can be quite exclusive. for example, home—working quite often applies only to senior managers, for example. so employers really need to review their flexible working practices, be a bit more innovative about how they apply them. up you go. kiera's shift pattern is regular, although she is still often working after the kids go to bed. the tuc wants everyone at work to get the same parental rights from day one. and to be made aware of them. emma simpson, bbc

news, hertfordshire. the headlines this afternoon. liam fox has accused the european union of trying to blackmail britain into accepting a brexit divorce bill. g flores suspend nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre near gatwick airport following a panorama investigation. officers we re panorama investigation. officers were filmed mocking, abusing and assaulting people held there. former england captain wayne rooney has been charged with drink—driving. he was stopped by police in cheshire in the early hours of this morning. in sport scotland manager gordon strachan believes his side needs ten from the next 12 points to qualify for next year's from the next 12 points to qualify for next yea r‘s world from the next 12 points to qualify for next year's world cup. three of those could come against lithuania later tonight. england in malta, qualification for the world cup looks like a formality. valtteri

bottas finished fastest in second practice ahead of the italian grand prix. he was less than five hundredths of a second quicker than his mercedes team—mate lewis hamilton at monza. more on those stories just after half past. the supreme court in kenya has overturned the result of the country's presidential election because of "irregularities" in the way the vote was conducted. the ruling is being seen as a victory for the opposition leader and veteran politician raila odinga, who called it a "historic day" for the people of africa. our correspondent anne soy in nairobi gave us this ordid the or did thejudges say or did the judges say was wrong? they complained about the complaints of mr bustard's party. after people had gone to vote the results started

coming in. but the documents that we re coming in. but the documents that were supposed to accompany them to verify these results were legitimate, those documents were not being made public, that's what the opposition had a problem with. what does this mean for the electoral commission? at this moment the electoral commission is pretty much discredited because they have been trying to show they could hold this election in a transparent manner. all of that now is out of the window. opinions on both sides of the political divide will be wondering whether they can have the next election in a transparent manner. the electoral commission says it is opening itself up for scrutiny and investigation to see whether any of its staff broke the law in this process. at the time of the result being announced, odinga

was accused of being a sore loser. indeed, at the time he even said he wouldn't go to the court, he didn't trust the court to give him fair hearing. shortly after that his supporters took to the streets, there was a bit of violence. about 16 people were killed in different parts of the country. i think that pressure forced mr odinga and his party to go back to the court, now they have that ruling. i think he would be feeling like he's vindicated himself. the main question being asked is how can they make sure the next election is any more flair? a question a lot of people are asking right now. the spotlight is even brighter on the electoral commission. kenyans will now be looking more closely at the whole process and hoping it goes well. one of the main problems kenny has had a history of, post—election violence, the longer the process is

prolonged, the more this tension is heightened. people will hope they can get past this as quickly and painlessly as possible. wayne rooney has been charged with drink—driving. he was arrested just after two a.m. this morning. the player has has been released on bail and is due to appear at stockport magistrates‘ court on september the 18th. a man's been convicted of trying to rob the england and west ham footballer, andy carroll. basildon crown court heard that convicted burglar, jack o'brien, who's 22 and from romford, pulled up alongside the striker as he drove home from training, and demanded he hand over his watch, worth £22,000. aid agencies are describing flooding across south asia as one of the worst regional crises in recent years. more than 1,200 people have died in india, bangladesh and nepal, and millions have been affected. many people are sleeping on roadsides and in makeshift shelters. angus crawford reports. once a main street.

the only traffic now, makeshift canoes and boats. look at the pole he's using. it almost disappears under the waters. across bangladesh, almost a third of the country has been affected. heavy monsoon rains making this the worst flooding in decades. the whole region has been hit, with more than 1200 dead, and more than a0 million forced to leave their homes, affecting india, nepal, bangladesh, and now pakistan. the level of devastation is horrible and it's massive. millions of children have been affected, and as we know, throughout the region there's a0 million people overall, in all of south asia. so right now the rains have subsided and people are starting to clean up the debris. in mumbai, on india's west coast, 33 people were killed when this building collapsed under the weight of heavy rain. the youngest victim a 20—month—old baby.

500 miles away, pakistan's biggest city, karachi, was brought to a standstill, streets submerged, more than 20 people dead. in bangladesh, millions made homeless have gone to higher ground. vulnerable to disease, they count the cost and hope to rebuild. angus crawford, bbc news. president trump is expected to ask congress for the equivalent of a and a half billion pounds, to help people affected by storm harvey in texas. the total cost of repairing the damage, and compensating residents whose homes have been flooded, is estimated at more than 100 billion pounds.jon donnison reports. in houston, texas, and beyond, there is little sign of the misery coming to an end. after more than four feet of rain in less than a week, it could be days before the water levels fully recede. thousands of people have now been

rescued from their homes, grabbing what they can carry and getting out. thousands of people have now been rescued from their homes, grabbing what they can carry and getting out. everything is gone. we lost everything in the house. thousands of people have now been rescued from their homes, grabbing what they can carry and getting out. everything is gone. we lost everything in the house. i was walking in the grass and i was walking, and i stepped down, and something just swept me up under. my head was hit, i seen light up under there, and i came out and i tried to grab a tree, and it's swept me under again. and i grabbed onto another tree, and i asked the lord to help me, and ijust started pulling myself up out of there. the vice—president, mike pence, flew into texas to see the damage first—hand. this is a key moment for the embattled and historically unpopular trump presidency. it can't be seen to get it wrong. the american people are with you.

we are here today, we will be here tomorrow, and we will be here every day until this city and this state and this region rebuild bigger and better than ever before. but this level of devastation is going to take vast amounts of money to fix. later today, the white house is expected to ask congress for an initial $5.9 billion in emergency funding. but the authorities in texas alone say the state might eventually need more than 20 times that amount. people here are vulnerable and in need. recovery and rebuilding is going to take months, if not years. jon donnison, bbc news. the long—running strike affecting bin collection in birmingham

the long running strike affecting bin collections in birmingham in in birmingham birmingham resumed this morning — after redundancy notices were issued to some workers. the industrial action was suspended last month after seven weeks — during which time rubbish piled up on many of the city's streets. our midlands correspondent sima kotecha reports. it looks bad and it smells even worse. a bin strike that's been going on for weeks and people here have had enough. itjust smells like a tip. i mean, there's bags dumped everywhere. bags which have opened up and just scattered all across the road and we have to walk through it every single day. it's not on. i don't know what they need to do. they need to sort something out between themselves and move on. that smell, it's so awful that you would rather do this to yourself than smell it, really. the council and the refuse workers are arguing about shift patterns, pay and conditions and job losses. this strike started at the end ofjune. the council claims that it's been costing them around £a0,000 per day to hire agency staff to clean up all this rubbish. then the industrial action was suspended in the middle

of august as the two sides held talks to figure out what to do next. then at 7.30am this morning the strike was back on. and that's because the council confirmed last night it would be cutting jobs. the unite union says they won't let that happen and will carry on striking for three hours every day. this is not about money. this is about ideology. paid officers of the council want to make cuts and they want to damage trade unionism within the council and they've taken a decision to sabotage an honourable settlement that was reached at acas to do so. the row‘s got worse because the council's leader had said in principle there would be no redundancies but he's come under pressure from his cabinet to change his stance because some of them say no job losses are unaffordable. redundancy notices have been issued but everyone still has a job. who has been given those redundancy notices. they can either have a job at exactly the same level, somewhere else in the council, or they still have a job on the bins. so the posts have gone,

but actually the actual employees are still there. nobody is losing theirjob. birmingham city council is the largest local authority in europe and it's under pressure to make savings. but the longer this strike goes on, the more expensive it gets for them and for those on strike. weather forecast. at least the weather forecast. at least the weather shaping up for the weekend, nick? a fine start for the weekend on saturday but by sunday a weather system coming in will spread rain east to most areas by the end of the day. up and down weekend. at the moment a few showers around but really very few, just into the pennines. the odd one will develop across parts of east anglia over the next few hours, some will continue overnight from the pennines, east midlands, into the london area before dying away. most places

overnight will be dry and clear like today, temperatures dipping away. there were than this in the countryside, mid to low single figures. saturday, the better day of the weekend, little bit of cloud building. you might find an isolated light shower but the vast majority ofa dry light shower but the vast majority of a dry day, broken sound, sunny spells and temperatures where they have been over the past couple of days, in the pleasantly warm category. here is the change on sunday, rain in the west, brisk wind, gradually moving east during the day but there will be part of eastern england that stay dry until after dark. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at... the brexit secretary david davis says brexit will not lead to a race to the bottom in terms of standards. speaking in washington this afternoon, mr davis set a britain committed to striking new free trade deals across the globe including the european union.

across the globe including the european union. a britain cooperating with friends and allies to drive up standards. a britain that helps set the rules of the global system and helps ensure those rules are honoured. the private security firm responds to undercoverfilming by the bbc‘s panorama: it says there is no place in its company for poor behaviour. the programme says it has seen gas staff "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there. struggling with childcare. a report form the tuc says nearly half of young, low paid parents are struggling to juggle childcare with work, blaming irregular hours. devastating floods in south asia. an estimated 16 million have been forced from their homes in india, nepal and bangladesh — with a third of bangladesh still under water. everton striker wayne rooney has been charged with drink—driving. cheshire police say rooney was arrested early this morning in wilmslow.

time for the sport. the scotland manager gordon strachan says he's not worrying missing out on next summer's world cup in russia. all of the home nations are involving qualifiers, but scotland feeling the most pressure, badly needing lithuania to keep their hopes alive in group f. scotland are four points off the play—off spot, only winning once in lithuania before. strachan believes ten points at 12 will be enough to finish in the places. there is psychology, training. information you pack on. it will not bea information you pack on. it will not be a churchill like speech making them feel better. i don't think that can work now. in general you make sure the players are prepared, feel co mforta ble. sure the players are prepared, feel comfortable. the amount of time they put into it, the training they put into it. england lead the group,

expected to win comfortably in malta. the first match since captain wayne rooney retired from international football. wayne rooney retired from internationalfootball. manager gareth southgate says although he knows the replacement, he will not tell his players until later today. iam keen tell his players until later today. i am keen to keep sharing the leadership. we focused too much on wayne in particular in the last few yea rs. we wayne in particular in the last few years. we need to start building a more resilient group of leaders, allowing them to take responsibility. for me, not the most important decision. northern ireland will need to avoid a slip—up against san marino later to stay on course for a play—off spot in group c. they have a four point cushion over first place at the moment. a short week. playing on a friday, as opposed to saturday in the past. the main thing we do thejob

saturday in the past. the main thing we do the job tomorrow night, hopefully coming through unscathed from injury wise. obviously suspension wires, one or to mega players on cards need to be careful. we will look on monday's game. all our focus is on san marino. wales in action against austria tomorrow. they are third place in group d. big weekend in football. good weekend ahead for the mercedes drivers at this weekend's italian grand prix. va ltteri bottas fastest this weekend's italian grand prix. valtteri bottas fastest in second practice earlier. closely followed by lewis hamilton, his team—mate. the reverse of the top two from first practice. sebastian vettel‘s ferrari only 0.a seconds behind this the german holds a 7—point lead over hamilton in the driver standings. it is the finals of the kia super league with surrey taking on western storm at the moment. sorry choosing to bat, making 100—7 with their 20

overs. anya shru bsole to bat, making 100—7 with their 20 overs. anya shrubsole taking three wickets. the winners will face southern vipers later this evening. james anderson stands on the verge of this to be going into england's third and decisive test against the west indies at lord's next week. he could become the third pace bowler in history to take 500 test wickets. anderson does not want the landmark to bea anderson does not want the landmark to be a distraction. it will be special, it will mean nothing if we don't win the test match. spoken of it about before the last test. and before the series. to be honest, real side like me, i want to contribute to win test matches. that is what i will focus on next week. that is all the sport. that is all from me, catherine downes back in the next half—hour. as we've been hearing, the brexit secretary david davis says that he is a"determined optimist" about britain's withdrawal from the eu. it follows comments from liam fox, the international trade secretary, who has said the uk must not allow

itself to be blackmailed by the european union over the cost of leaving. reality check‘s chris morris has more: the uk's main goal in the brexit negotiations right now is to move on — as quickly as possible — from talking about past obligations to talking about a future partnership with the eu. but there's a long road ahead, and it's likely to get bumpy. the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier said yesterday that there had been no decisive progress on any of the main issues. in other words for the moment, it's no go. so a quick reminder about where the eu says progress has to be made before it will talk more about the future. first, the status of eu citizens in the uk and uk citizens living elsewhere in europe. thedre was some progress this week — confirmation that after brexit these citizens will still be able to use their ehic insurance cards. there's no agreement on that, though, for the rest of us. first, the status of eu citizens

in the uk and uk citizens living elsewhere in europe. thedre was some progress this week — confirmation that after brexit these citizens will still be able to use their ehic insurance cards. there's no agreement on that, though, for the rest of us. and here's the overall sticking point — who would have legal authority over any deal om citizens‘ rights. the eu wants it to be the ecj,' the uk says that's not acceptable after brexit the second majorfocus is the border between northern ireland and the irish republic. the uk says it wants to maintain an ‘invisible border‘ after brexit, with no physical infrastructure at all, and there were, we‘re told, ‘good discussions‘ on ireland this week. but while the eu understands the sensitivities on the border, it says frictionless trade is impossible once the uk leaves the single market and the customs union. and the toughest issue of all is money — what are the uk‘s financial obligations to the eu when it leaves? the eu hasn‘t published any final demand but it could be as high as a net amount that‘s after some money comes back to the uk of 60 billion euros.

that is based largely on commitments the uk has already made. but the uk questions the legal basis of these calculations, and went through them line by line in negotations this week. it‘s not prepared to pay nearly as much. so how do we get from where we are now to where the uk wants to be: talking about a future trade partnership? it accuses the eu of being inflexible, liam fox talks of blackmail. well, two more rounds of negotiations have been scheduled in the weeks beginning. september the 18th and october the 9th — after that the eu will have to decide whether it thinks ‘sufficient progress‘ has been made to allow the talks to move to the next phase. that‘s not a decision for the eu‘s negotiating team. it will have to be made unanimously by the leaders of the other 27 eu countries who will meet for a summit in brussels on the 19th and 20th of october. by then we‘ll also know whether angela merkel has been re—elected as german chancellor. in elections towards the end of this month. the uk probably shouldn‘t rely

on mrs merkel to suddenly change course on brexit though — so how can disputes about money in particular be resolved? a transition period after brexit could be one way forward. it would mean the uk still paying money into the eu budget for a couple of years, and it could help reduce the size of a final bill. course on brexit though — so how can disputes about money in particular be resolved? a transition period after brexit could be one way forward. it would mean the uk still paying money into the eu budget for a couple of years, and it could help reduce the size of a final bill. hopefully, it would also help create a smoother british exit and offer reassurance to business. still, there are an awful lot of ifs and buts. if the eu doesn‘t think ‘sufficient progress‘ has been made by october for example, eu leaders won‘t meet again until just before christmas. and that would mean substantive talks on trade wouldn‘t begin until well into the new year, with time ticking away. a potential shortage of school places looms in secondary schools in england — councils are warning. the local government association says schools will be thousands of places short over the next few years as a population bulge moves up from primary. but the department for education attacked the figures as "thoroughly misleading". richard watts, leader of islington council and chair of the local government association

children‘s board gave his reaction. surprised to hear the department for education thing steamy figures are misleading, they are based on the department‘s game figures. you are right it is not a surprise we have the balance coming to secondary schools, we have had 11 years notice. councils have been saying for a while this problem is coming down the road. we don‘t have the powers we need in order to make a good job of the basic responsibility we had to make sure every child has a school place. when you say don't have the power you mean over academies, or generally? two big problems we have had. two thirds of schools are academies. if push was to come to shove, councils don‘t have the power to force them to expand, if that is the only way of getting good school place for any child. have you had to do that with any academy? councils are pretty good trying to solve this problem.

we have been doing it for a few yea rs we have been doing it for a few years there. plenty of experience of doing voluntary deals with schools, quite often that is how it gets resolved. there are bits of a where schools are refusing expand. areas where the vast majority are academies, that is a real problem. compounded by the fact that councils don‘t have the power anymore to set up don‘t have the power anymore to set upa don‘t have the power anymore to set up a harrowing new schools anymore. with this control on our powers, councils are really trying to do the difficultjob of councils are really trying to do the difficult job of managing councils are really trying to do the difficultjob of managing the bulge in the number of kids coming into the secondary system with one hand tied behind our back. the department for education is a local authorities ofa for education is a local authorities of a statutory duty to maintain there is a place for every child, and they have allocated £5.8 billion of basic needs funding between 2015 and 2020. ie saying that is not enough? that goes to repairing schools to building new schools. that is down to you to spend it they are saying the money is there? pretty sca nt

are saying the money is there? pretty scant consolation for parents with holes in the roof if we say we cannot repair the hole. parents are pretty decent expectation that buildings are in good condition. not enough money in the pot to do running repairs as well as doing the changes to basic needs provision and a range of other bits of education spending as well. what is absolutely clear, councils are trying to make the best of this in difficult circumstances. largely doing pretty good job of it at moment. however more kids in the system, more schools becoming academies means we don‘t have the powers over them. free schools been decided by civil serva nts free schools been decided by civil servants in whitehill, not people who are in whitehill, don‘t know the area best. you are jealous of the freedom academies seem to have? local councils they were to run any school day to basis. sounds as if thatis school day to basis. sounds as if that is what you are doing if you‘re worrying about holes improves, and telling people you can take the

children. it is ourjob from the government gives us the money to distribute it is our problem. not ourjob to run the schools, headteachers do that, not only are the head of accountancy intervene in the head of accountancy intervene in the running of the school. we have to ensure there is a school place for every child, as the department saysin for every child, as the department says in every statement. it is all very well saying we have a duty, or we don‘t have the power to do it if fulfil this duty. councils and schools need to come to voluntary arrangements to bet they can expand. this would appear to be a warning sign. where is yourfear we this would appear to be a warning sign. where is your fear we will this would appear to be a warning sign. where is yourfear we will in five years? we feel they can be 125,000 children without a school place if nothing changes at the moment. across england? yes. councils will do deals with local secondary schools, make arrangements, make ways to bring the number down this with the growing bulge coming into secondary school systems bulge coming into secondary school syste ms ca n bulge coming into secondary school systems can we have known about it for awhile, but not seen the action

to do anything about. with more and more schools becoming academies, not being able to force to expand if we really need them to, we are saying there is a problem, and we need more powers in future to do the job properly. the private sector security company, gas, has suspended nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre near gatwick airport following an investigation by bbc‘s panorama. the programme says it has covert footage recorded at brook house showing officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there. well let‘s get a taste of the programme being shown on monday. on the front line of britain‘s fight to control immigration, a secret world of drugs, violence and abuse. where some foreign nationals are locked up for as long as two years. undercover, britain‘s immigration secrets. panorama, monday at 930 bc one. earlier we spoke tojerry petherick, managing director for gas‘s

custodial and detention services about the allegations contained in the panorama programme i have not seen the footage as of yet. i‘m only responding to the written allegations we received last thursday. if it is as described, i‘m com pletely thursday. if it is as described, i‘m completely disgusted by the behaviour described. unacceptable to me, the company. unacceptable to the vast majority of my staff who work ina highly vast majority of my staff who work in a highly professional way, sometimes dealing with dangerous and serious situations across my estate. we have asked for side of the footage. we have been told no at this time. obviously i want to see it as soon as possible. we have suspended the nine staff, which we did immediately after we heard about the allegations. we referred matters immediately to the police and social services. i have investigators there. i would like to proceed with that investigation as swiftly as possible. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first, the headlines on bbc news:

the brexit secretary said brexit or not lead to a race to the bottom in terms of standards. the international trade secretary, liam fox, has accused the european union of trying to "blackmail" britain into accepting a brexit divorce bill. gas has suspended nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre near gatwick airport, following a bbc panorama investigation. allegations include officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there. the former england captain wayne rooney has been charged with drink—driving. he was stopped by police in cheshire in the early hours of this morning. good news from uk manufacturing. output, orders and employment are all picking up, according to a survey called the markit/cips purchasing managers‘ index. it charts growth with an index that now stands at 56.9. just a month ago it was at 55.3. the crucial point is that any figure

above 50 indicates expansion. but these figures show the sector growing at its fastest pace for seven months. more car companies are launching diesel scrappage schemes — offering discounts when you hand in an old diesel model. now volkswagen, toyota and renault and kia have joined the five which already have schemes in place — that‘s bmw, ford, hyundai, mercedes—benz and vauxhall. kia is offering 2,000 pounds, vw up to £6,000. toyota is offering up to £a,000 off older models and renault — up to £7,000 two out of five low—paid young parents who ask for flexible work arrangements are "penalised" as a result, according to a tuc survey. they are given fewer hours, worse shifts and some have lost their jobs, its survey of 1,000 parents suggests a government spokesperson has said businesses must have a legitimate reason to refuse flexible working. more and more customers offering ——

car—makers offering schemes to get all cars scrapped. is that exploiting environmental concerns to get them to buy new cars? the boss of kia motors had his say. this is about taking environmental inequality factors seriously. we have offered money on our new cars. a 20% saving versus the list price of the scar lerentee mccray car, to scrap anelka which is heavily polluting the environment. scrap anelka which is heavily polluting the environmentm scrap anelka which is heavily polluting the environment. it is ten yea rs polluting the environment. it is ten years since polluting the environment. it is ten yea rs since ba rclayca rd polluting the environment. it is ten years since barclaycard introduced the first co nta ctless years since barclaycard introduced the first contactless payment system to the uk. now half of all

transactions up to a spending limit of £30 i made this way. it is seven seconds faster than paying with chip and pin. new ways of getting us to increase the way money leaves out bank accounts. there is grab and go, and you check account. we can speak to head a payment of ba rclayca rd. can speak to head a payment of barclaycard. it is a delightful way to shop. grab and go is part of a new pilot, trialling in the uk and the us. effectively building on the trend of invisible payments. allows you to skip the queue, check—out in your pocket. allows you to select a sandwich, scan it with your phone, check out and walk out. saves on this critical minutes in the queue at lunchtime. is that the same as pocket check—out. at lunchtime. is that the same as pocket check-out. very similar. the

mobile phone is your pocket check—out. mobile phone is your pocket check-out. what i am interested in, not sure if you have worked this out, has the whole speedy payment system increased the amount of money we spend christmas there is no evidence to say we spend more because of contactless was the proof point for contactless is about ease and convenience. it saves time this what do you think? i think it is cached displacement. for the data saved customers spend less on cashmore on contactless. that shift continues year—on—year. so 106 or 6% growth in contactless spending last year. that is set to spiral by 2021, we predict growth. one other point. who is using this the most? in terms of customers, our fastest customer group is ever over 60s. the silver really shows contactless spans all

generations. it has become mass—market. we have seen a co nta ctless mass—market. we have seen a contactless revolution in the uk. you started this, barclaycard started this. did you invent the technology, now everybody else is using your technology and you are making money out of it. did you buy it in from outside? the contactless technology is a standard we did not create. we were the first to take the technological capability and roll it out. we are uniquely placed that ba rclayca rd, we roll it out. we are uniquely placed that barclaycard, we have been nurtured relationships with retailers and issuers. it allows us to drive the roll—out of contactless a cce pta nce to drive the roll—out of contactless acceptance on terminals, as well as driving new ways to pay. wearables, or through mobile. thank you very much. the rac has warned drivers to expect a hike in unleaded petrol prices in the coming days, largely as a result of storm harvey in the southern united states which has damaged refineries there.

a litre of petrol could rise by up to ap, which would take the average price above 121p per litre — not seen since december 201a. the amount of money put into cash individual savings accounts has fallen by a third, year—on—year. it‘s because low interest rates and tax changes make them less attractive to savers. two years ago cash isa holders paid 59 billion pounds into them. but during the last financial year, only 39 billion of new money went in. and four in five british adults are proud of the work they do, and two thirds enjoy going to work most days, according to research carried out for bbc five live. it also suggested women are more likely than men to enjoy their work. and it seemed to show that public sector workers have more pride in theirjobs than those in the private sector. not a huge movement in the markets.

vidal is largely because the thought about the hurricane in the united states, the money putting to remedy the situation could be good for the economy. now the humble vacuum cleaner is causing something of a stir. sales of the noisiest and most powerful devices are, from today, restricted under eu rules. machines using more than 900 watts of power, and emitting more than 80 decibels, will be banned from sale when the existing stocks run out. our environment analyst roger harrabin explains. what used to happen to carpets. until london‘s hoover factory in 193a applied technology to cleaning. voiceover: and at last, the lady can make light of her housework... even men used them, sometimes.

a lifetime later, and we have other worries. we‘re trying to cut emissions from electricity, and keep bills down. so, new eu rules are forcing the most energy—hungry of these machines off the market. cleaners like this sebo automatic gobble 1100 watts. that‘s too high to meet new european standards, so this model is on its way out. anti—eu campaigners say europe should have no say in the sort of vacuum cleaner that you buy. but experts say households can save a small fortune on electricity bills if only the least efficient machines can be driven off the market. eu efficiency standards have improved most of the machines in your kitchen. already, the rules have contributed to a 17% drop in our use of energy. our energy bills are £290 lower than they would be without efficiency improvements. now vacuum cleaners

must play their part. people think that if it‘s a very high wattage than it‘s going to be a super—duper cleaner, but that‘s not necessarily the case. manufacturers have known for a long time that this has been coming, so they will have been working very hard on design and technology to make sure that the new generation of vacuum cleaners will come up to the mark. on the streets of leeds, opinions are divided. i think it‘s required, anything that uses less energy is good, obviously. it's ridiculous, i don't believe it. i'll believe it when i see it, anyway. no, i think it‘ll be a good idea, you know, to make it... you know, if it‘s making it better for people, yeah. and this issue‘s political. before the brexit referendum, the eu postponed new standards on toasters. the government says it supports energy efficiency,

but it won‘t say if eu rules will still apply after brexit. we‘ll have to see what pops up. roger harrabin, bbc news. plenty of stories on the bbc website. a story about staff and guests forced to flee after two out—of—control pensioners rampage through a highland perthshire hotel. robert fergus, 72, running naked with a pair of scissors in the public reception of the mcdonald lord rannoch hotel. his wife smashed a glass roof, threatening to shoot a staff member after reacting badly to the alcohol she had earlier consumed this a guest was woken by banging on the door at 1:a5am seeing mrs fergus, he became abusive in the

hallway. the guest informed reception, mr fergus appeared with no clothes on a shouted abuse of staff and guests. staff ran from the hotel to the village. the sheriff told mr fergus, i do think telecommuters are very sorry state of affairs. i have no doubt you will regret this for the rest of your life. plenty more online. let‘s have a look at the weather. nick miller. we will do that as quickly as possible, we will talk about how warm it is in parts of the uk. the warmest day in september so far. 21 degrees in cavendish, suffolk. threatening skies hard to find. a cute thundery showers, some in kent. after a largely sunny start, some cloud building today. it is through eastern parts they could be more heavy showers to come. from the pennines into the east midlands, into east anglia. a feeling during

down to london, before fading away. 12—macro mist and fog patches developing. most staying dry, temperatures dipping lover. into the countryside, made and low single figures. maybe some scottish glens freezing going into saturday morning. just like to do there will bea morning. just like to do there will be a chill in the air, in the morning. plenty of sunshine. su nflowers morning. plenty of sunshine. sunflowers building and losing that sun. one or two like chavez, the greater threat of those across eastern parts of england. even here, hit enter miss. four o‘clock in the afternoon saturday afternoon. temperature is fairly light for most of us. up into the high teens. the wind freshening in northern ireland. weather system approaching from the atlantic. the breeze freshening of the western coast. just a hint of

the western coast. just a hint of the odd stray sharma. eastern england, may see some showers. the vast majority staying dry. the breeze freshening on saturday evening. saturday night you may encounter some rain moving into northern ireland as a weather system moves intoning wetter through wales in south—west england into sunday morning. saturday night a milder wonder we have just that. morning. saturday night a milder wonder we havejust that. part morning. saturday night a milder wonder we have just that. part two on sunday, all of this to come in. cloud, rain, weatherfronts. starting in the west on sunday. parts of wales, western england. could be some heavy bursts pushing it is scotland. does advance further east during the day. although the cloud increases, the breeze picking up, staying dry until after dark. temperatures made and high teens. you may see some sunshine. in the west, feeling cooler with the cloud and rain.

this is bbc news, i‘m simon mccoy. the headlines at apm. speaking in washington, the brexit secretary david davis says he is a ‘determined optimist‘ about britain‘s withdrawal of the eu. i believe that a good deal is in the interests of both the united kingdom and the european union and of the entire global community. gas suspends nine members of staff from an immigration removal centre near gatwick airport — after a bbc panorama investigation shows officers "mocking, abusing and assaulting" people being held there. nearly half of young, low—paid parents are struggling to juggle childcare with work and two in five are penalised for asking for flexitime, according to a new survey.

also in the next hour: more than 1200 people dead and a1 million affected by monsoon rains. the impact of floods in south asia becomes clearer — an estimated 16 million have been forced from their homes in india, nepal and bangladesh — with a third of bangladesh still under water.